Went out chukar hunting this morning with my brother, we forgot shells. Figured we'd stop by Red's and pick some up. The staff were able to help us even with the power out. They even gave us some water bottles and some helpful advice. Highly recommend stopping by. The guided fly fishing trips are always a blast and the food is top notch! read more

Booked a float on the Yakima with guide Rocky Gibson. He was great. He is a high school teacher who guides on weekends and during the summers. He really knew the river well, and put us on fish all day, including several in the 17"-20" range. Highly recommend him! read more

Fabulous food here! Fish n chips and burger were AMAZING!!! Cocktails are out of this world as well. Service was fantastic, We will be back! read more

Red's Fly Shop - Fabulous burger! - Boating Near Me - Ellensburg, Washington

Great food, beautiful location right on the river! Service was really wonderful too! I will be back this summer again. Thank you! read more

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I had another wonderful experience visiting Red's Fly Shop last week. I floated the Yakima River in a drift boat with guide Leif. He is my kind of fly fishging guide: encouraging, instructive, fun to hang out with, and he always puts me on the fish. I caught too many rainbow trout to count, including some large ones. Many caught on dry flies, my favorite way to fly fish. To celebrate, I had lunch at the Canyon River Grill next to the shop. Their food and service is always outstanding. What an amazing day. I highly recommend Red's for excellent fly fishing and gourmet dining experiences in the beautiful Yakima River Canyon. read more

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had an excellent float with, Noahi. Probably misspelling his name. He was an awesome guide, great fishing, and wonderful day despite massive winds at the end of the day read more

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Recently had a trip with Curtis as our guide. He talked the entire time and had a pretty negative attitude. We wanted to have a nice quiet experience and that was the opposite of what we had. It seemed like he was having a bad morning. Nice guy and knows his stuff, but would not want to go with him again. read more

My group has been floating the Yakima river for 30 years now on the last weekend in July. We always use Red's to pick up our vehicle where we put our rafts in and drive to our camp while we're floating. This year however, we had a massive mishap on the river and ended up with no raft, stranded on an island. One of us had to swim across and hitch a ride to Red's with no shirt, no money, no ID, soaking wet, etc. The staff at Red's loaned him a raft, took him to Umtanum to put it in, and he floated down to get us. They'd already delivered our vehicle to our camp but they went back and got it so it would be waiting for us at Red's when we got there in their raft. When we went in to pay, they were SO kind and helpful and only charged us a nominal fee for all of their hassle. We were shaken up and and so defeated and their kindness won't be forgotten! THIS is the kind of place I want to do business with. Incredible people here. If I could give them 10 stars I would! read more

If you've always wanted to learn how to hunt or fish, this is the place for you. The staff is kind and considerate and will work hard to make sure you have a good time. My 11 year old son and I went and had a fabulous time on the Sporting Clay course (it's like putt putt with Shotguns - but safe for course), then had a marvelous time shooting our first pheasant during the Uplands Hunting 101 course. My son and I got to have a delicious pheasant BBQ after our experience making it a great start to a future of safe hunting trips together. read more

This review is way late - I should have written this after my first experience with Reds Fly Shop back in 2009, as it would be the same review after every one of my countless visits since then: THEY ARE BAR NONE THE BEST FLY SHOP AND GUIDE TEAM (for upland game or fly fishing) I've ever had the pleasure of being acquainted with. From senior management to shop staff to the guides, they are honest, sincere, helpful, highly skilled, and just plain nice. I've been guided for both hunts and fishing trips in Europe, across the continental US, Alaska and Hawaii. As both a certified Nordic ski instructor and sailing instructor I'm pretty critical about outdoor recreation operations and the ability to go the extra mile to ensure great service, great teaching and ensuring an overall great experience for guests; in my view Reds sets the highest of standards in all these areas. If they ever decided to get out of the fly fishing business they could establish a premier customer service institute, as they could easily be the leaders in teaching others how to get it done right. And oh yeah, if anybody can get you on a bragging rights fish, their guides can. I genuinely look forward to my trips to chase trout on Washington's blue ribbon Yakima River. Just as much, I look forward to seeing the Reds team, making any purchases, and getting any helpful hints before hitting the river. I can promise you will too - they are the best on the Yakima and beyond. read more

I recently took a guided trip on the Yakima and in all honesty, can't say I thought the service lived up to the strong reputation Reds carries. Our guide openly admitted that he was a bit burned out from a long season, lunch was pre packaged Safeway sandwiches, and the guide didn't provide a ton of instruction. I'd give them a second shot though as their shop always provides great service and they seem to be dialed in on the fish. read more

Our son is going to Whitman college in Walla Walla, WA. He was picking us up from Tri-Cities airport & stopped to shop for flies on his way to the airport. Our son said, "You've got to give them 5 starts on Yelp!" "They are the best fly store & were super helpful! They have great fly rods & were full of information." He thought the employee's name was Beau? Good job Red's! Thanks for helping our son & making his day!! read more

Met Max right on time at Flying J in Ellensburg. We were on Hilltop Lake at 9:45 and fished hard until 3:00 with no success. Had a few strikes on the popper from small Largemouth. Fish were sparse and skittish as though they received a lot of pressure. Wouldn't recommend this lake, as a private lake should produce fish. The guide was great and friendly and he cooked a great steak lunch. I would choose the trout fishing though over this lake. Very disappointing fishing. read more

Red's Fly Shop - Hilltop Lake - Boating Near Me - Ellensburg, Washington

One of the best fly fishing days of my life! Perfect guide service, lots of catches, including some big ole 16 inchers. Damn!!! Can't thank Red's enough for the perfect day. read more

Red's Fly Shop - Boating Near Me - Ellensburg, Washington

The location of the shop is hard to beat. Right on the Yakima River, in the famed canyon. Well stocked fly shop with a very nice selection of gear, flies, and even boats. The staff if friendly and knowledgeable. One of my favorite things is all of the time Joe put's into doing really high quality video's. They support the sport and spend time putting out quality content. This is a great place to support. I just ordered a boat with Joe and he was really helpful and made the process very easy. read more

Amazing staff and great help. Picked up my new fly rod and reel. Also there fishing trips are great

Spent 400 on 3 campspots for the weekend. Floated to reds, got out for lunch and the manager? kicked us out saying it wasn't open to the public. I pointed out we had paid and he said they only take the money for the campground and weren't affiliated. All this despite the campground, website and signage all had reds listed on them. Unfortunately, the pompous, Urkel looking redneck wouldn't listen and after many years of our business with them, we'll have to go elsewhere. read more

Although I have floated the Yak in my pontoon boat, this was my first guided float and I had a blast! Jack was proficient at the helm and was a bundle of information. It's rather apparent that he is enthusiastic about what he does and goes out of his way to make sure that you have the best chance of hooking up. The best thing about Jack? He somehow was able to tolerate the behavior of my buddy and I. Definitely will do this again and hope to get Jack back at the helm. read more

All, This is by far one of the most professional and sincere organizations I've ever had the pleasure of knowing in this industry. I recently moved back to the area and signed up for one of the numerous instructional courses Reds offers. The day felt like one of the best-guided days I've ever spent on the water at a fraction of the cost of a normal guided trip. Curtis was an excellent instructor and I can't wait to do a trip with him in the upcoming future. These guys are passionate, educated and possess a wealth of knowledge on the rivers they fish. One of my favorite guide services for sure. read more

Sometime prior to 3:49 pm on a Thursday (that's the time stamp of my confirmation), I ordered a reel for "FedEx 2-day Fed-Ex Express" delivery, estimating that I would receive it well in advance of my flight the following Tuesday morning. When it didn't arrive on Saturday, I checked the tracking status -- it indicated the reel would not arrive until five days from the day that I ordered it. I called Red's and visited with a manager who indicated to me that FedEx 2-day Express delivery is business days, not calendar days. First, Red's ordering selection and confirmation simply says "2-day" and FedEx does deliver on non-business days. Second, even if the weekend didn't intervene the package should be arriving no later than the Monday, not the Tuesday which was shown on the tracking summary. The manager simply chuckled at me, twice, and informed me that his tracking summary shows that it would arrive on Monday, not Tuesday. "I don't know what to tell you," he added. I have two significant problems with the way this was handled, the first of which is the failure of Red's system to clearly indicate that it's FedEx 2-day deliver is business days, not calendar days. The second is the way that I was treated by the manager, laughing at me derisively as if I shouldn't be concerned at all and should understand that 2-day delivery means business days, when FedEx does deliver on weekends. Terrible experience. read more

I don't have a ton of experience with fly fishing shops, having just taken up the sport this year, but the folks at Red's are right on. Super nice group of guys who don't mind shooting the breeze with the customers even if it's a hot Sunday and there is a queue forming with people eager to fish or float the river. Red's offers a variety of services from guided trips, to raft rentals to float the Yak to drift boat rentals to fish the Yak and shuttle services to get you to and from. They also offer a camping option where you can rent one of the army tents they have on-site (didn't check these out, so can't really comment). JP reserved a Clackacraft drift boat for us to use on Sunday. It was a very fun experience to fly fish from the boat, but the oars are HEAVY, definitely made rowing a challenge for little me. We arrived around 1ish and waited a bit as the guy working the shop helped a couple of girls secure a raft and shuttle since their raft sprung a leak mid-Yakima river float. Once they were taken care of he moved onto us. We had wait about 15 minutes more since the shuttle was taking the girls and raft up to their location, but that provided us with time to pull our gear together. Red's is currently in the process of having a Lodge built (which is actually condos that are for sale) so normal services like access to a standard bathroom don't currently exist (porta potties are available). The guy was super cool and filled up our water bottles for us since it was a hot day. Shuttle driver was nice and chatty, dropped the boat into the water and sent us on our way. Had a great 7+ hours on the river, fish tally wasn't as high as we were hoping (1 rainbow landed, 1 broke the line on the way in), but we had a blast. Red's provides a great service for helping you get on the water and fish while the rivers are running really high. We put in at Ringer and finished our float right at Red's sometime around 9:30 PM. Just tied up and anchored the boat and were on our way back to Seattle. NOTE: They do sell ice, but for $3 a bag I highly recommend picking up your supplies (beer, water, ice, snacks) in Ellensburg before cruising into the canyon. read more

Whenever in the Yakima River Canyon, one has to stop at Red's. I've been going here for years. I went there when it was a tiny little shop w/ lots of guides and drift boats, and now its fixin' to be a big resort...with a huge lodge, and vineyard across the street. Nah, but I digress. The thing to stop by Red's for is the knowledge. These guys know the river, and even if the wisdom they pass onto you doesn't pan out, atleast its a good starting point. For the "fish secrets", I usually feel compelled to buy a few flies---they are pretty pricey, so be aware. They also have a very useful website for info on the river. read more

More a review of their fly-fishing guide service on the Yak. We hired Eric and it started out ok but after a half-hour in, quickly realized this was a "go cast there in that dark area and let it float" type of scenario, which is kind of a no-brainer. Tried to ask questions about fly recommendations, equipment, techniques and the responses were super generic and short. Either he wasn't super experienced with trout fishing (which he did mention he was more into steelhead fishing, strange since he said his family owned the place) or he's just trying to get through the days. Net net, I walked away knowing the basics of what I already knew and was able to release some fish (no offering to take pics or anything, just reeled in and he pulled 'em off and tossed 'em back in). Maybe he was having an off day but I still paid a healthy gratuity for his time. I might try another guide next time or a completely different shop altogether. Threw an extra star on there as the restaurant is on point! read more

I went into Reds because a friend of mine said they were going to host a women's event. When I went in, I found it was actually a co-ed class on the weekend. After talking to the guy in the shop, I was instantly put at ease and decided to sign up. The classes were amazing, the instructors both were acoomdating, kind and man did they know heir stuff! The point of my review is to talk about the guided trips though - oh my gosh it was amazing! I met another woman from the company I work for in the class and we decided to book a trip with one of he instructors, Colton! I was slightly nervous because I wasn't the best caster and I didn't know if I would even catch a fish! But from the time we put in the river (even the guys at the put in were awesome)....it was an experience that I will never forget! I caught amazing trout (one was 15 inches) and the guide Colton helped teach me about making sure the fish are treated well once you had them hooked and he was so patient with all my tangles! The lunch was unexpected and outstanding and I even learned a bit about geology! Reds is a class act for sure. read more

Red's Fly Shop - Boating Near Me - Ellensburg, Washington

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Based on my observations and experiences, Washington state is "evergreen" depending on which side of the Cascades one bases his/her perspective. Eastern Washington is mostly a high elevation desert speckled with green "patches" on account of irrigation. Western Washington gets plenty of rainfall to stay naturally green year-round. What a contrast! Surprisingly, arid regions can have their beauty and resources. Such was the case for me on Friday, August 10th. Months in advance of my business trip, I reserved a guided trip for king salmon and/or white sturgeon on the mighty Columbia River for that day. The plan was to go above Priest Rapids dam and fish. The week prior to my arrival and during the week I was there, temperatures ranged anywhere from 100 F to 110 F! Wow! The Pacific Northwest can get, and does get, very hot during the summer. While it is a dry heat, that point is moot when the temperature is 110 F! Forget the lack of humidity. It does not matter at that high of a temperature. The temperature did get up to 110 F during the week I was there. In hindsight, it turned out to be the hottest day of 2018 for the Tri-Cities area. As a result of these abnormally high temps, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) closed the Columbia River to all salmon fishing due to water temperatures being in excess of 80 F! That left me with white sturgeon as my only choice. But, my fishing guide canceled on me due to health issues. He said his doctor instructed him not to be outdoors laboring in temps in excess of 100 F. I agreed with the cancellation and was not at all offended. Yet, I was still left without a fishing trip.................but only for a short while. I began brainstorming for a Plan B. Having heard about the Yakima River over the years, I decided to call the only fly shop on the Yakima River - Red's Fly Shop (redsflyshop.com). Long story short, I procured a half-day, morning trip with a guide on the Evergreen state's lone blue-ribbon trout fishery. After departing around 4:40 a.m., I drove the 96 miles up to Ellensburg and arrived shortly after 6:00 a.m. at Red's Fly Shop. The guide, Joe, and I then drove upriver to the launch ramp where we launched in his Clackacraft drift boat. The temps were in the mid 60's F! We had cloud cover and high-altitude smoke cover (from wild fires) to keep us cool. The sun did not break through till after 10 a.m., when the trip was nearing its end. In short, the weather was ideal for fishing. We were targeting wild rainbows and Westslope cutthroats. We utilized dry flies (hoppers), hopper-droppers, and double nymphs (stone fly and an emerging caddis) with a strike indicator. By the way, the Yak is a catch-and-release-only trout fishery. The fishing action was constant with only an occasional lull. I hooked and landed too many rainbows to count. I hooked, but did not land, a few Westslope cutthroats, too. Those cutthroats apparently knew how to spit the hook before getting netted. The largest trout landed was a 15-incher. There are 20+ inch trout in that water, but the guide said trout of such size are the exception and not the rule. Trout up to 18-inches is the common size range for the Yakima. The scenery was majestic and indescribable. One has to go there to experience it to know how to appreciate it. As far as wildlife, we saw bald eagles, ospreys, cedar waxwings, big horn sheep, and mule deer. In many locations the water was waist-deep (or deeper) right off the shore line. Talk about a sharp drop-off! We, however, were not without civilization amenities. There were two campgrounds with facilities along our trek (for those concerned about "bio breaks"). The BNSF railroad shadowed much of the river, too, as did Highway 821. There were kayakers, raft boat anglers, and a never-ending supply of river "Cheerios" (inner-tubers, floaters, etc.). While such sights give me mixed feelings, I must admit that such sights are also the sign of a fun river. Hence, the Yakima should be on every fly anglers bucket list! read more

I took my 10 yo son on his first bird hunt with Camrin of Red's. Camrin was very professional and helped educate my son on everything from gun safety, dog handling to conservation. I greatly appreciate the time he took with my son and set realistic expectations for the hunt. We will be back and I also plan on booking Camrin for a fly fishing trip in the Spring with my son - he's great with kids ! read more

I'll start this review by saying that unfortunately, you really don't have a choice but to either camp, use a boat ramp, or really do much else on the Yakima river in this area unless you're paying Red's for it. They've bought up many of the surrounding campsites and boat launches and charge an arm and a leg for access to the river. It's such a shame because it's a great river, but they prioritize money over anything else. Everything is overpriced and it's ridiculous that they charge people just to use the boat launch on their property. They recently bought the Bighorn campsite in the canyon and have let it fester into a terrible place to be. Campsites covered in broken glass, cigarettes, rusty nails. Campground full of people blasting music and screaming obscenities all night long. If Red's would just put all the money they charge to good use, we wouldn't mind having to shell out so much money to just camp and get on the river. But they really have ruined a great thing. read more

Our trout fishing trip was a huge success and the RFS team that put it together and executed it was awesome. They were flexible when our dates changed and ready when we arrived in July 2018. First off, we caught fish with dry flies and wet. (and released them.) Our guide, Patrick, was outstanding in every way from efficient logistics to coaching our casting to fixing our snarls. He served a great dinner picnic on a lovely rise adjacent to the river. He even took great pictures and sent them to us. The Yakima River Canyon is stunningly beautiful. This was a 50th birthday present to my son and I could not have asked for more. read more

I recently booked a 4 man Euro-Nymphing clinic offered through Red's on the Naches River.I am an experienced fly fisherman, but new to this emerging trend of tight-line nymphing. Our guide, Curtis, really did a great job of explaining, demonstrating and correcting some of the more common errors. I was able to catch and release over a dozen fish in the class on Saturday. Curtis loaned me his euro-nymph rod for Sunday and I was able to quickly catch and land a number of fish on my own. Great job to Curtis and the Red's staff in offering a perfect introductory course in the exciting new technique of euro-nymphing and well worth the cost! read more

Met up with and old friend and booked a float trip on the Yakima. This was the first float trip for either of us, but it will not be our last! Curtis our guide was outstanding, teaching new fishing techniques and putting us into the best seems on the river for catching fish. Fishing was excellent!! If your interested if fishing the Yakima, don't look any further than Red's. read more

The half day float was a gift for my daughter's 17 birthday. She invited a friend who has never been fly fishing. They had a blast! They caught lots of fish, ate lots of yummy food from the grill, the guide did a great job - everything was stellar. read more

Amazing salmon pick up dinner last night! Worth the 45 minute drive from Swauk Prairie!

Red's Fly Shop is so awesome! We booked a half day fly fishing guided trip. Our teacher Leif was so great! We walked away feeling so educated about fly fishing, caught many fish, and ready to try it out on our own in Texas! He was patient and willing to help throughout the entire tour. He even brought along snacks and drinks for us. And his knowledge over local areas and events helped improve the rest of our trip. I would recommend this trip to anyone - experts and beginners! read more

I have recently started purchasing from Red's and have found their service to be outstanding... However a recent purchase of a Sage 1291-4 saltwater rod has left me disappointed...Most of my fly rods and reels are Orvis with a few exceptions (a Sage 4 weight, a G. Loomis 9 weight saltwater and a Fenwick 6 weight...I try to buy equipment made in the U.S. and I suspect the Sage I purchased was possibly made elsewhere and was disappointed when I could find no marking as to where it was produced...Of all my Fly rods (I have a dozen or more) this one seems to be of the poorest quality...I will continue to purchase from Red's as I like their service but will be more cautious when purchasing equipment online... read more

I bought a rafting trip for my partner's birthday. This rafting trip is more expensive than many around. I bought it thinking the quality of service would be the reason why. When we got there we received very few instructions other than "wait" and "get in the car". When we arrived at the place, the person handling our boat basically gave us minimal instructions; "go until you see the pacman and stay to the left, the landing site is about .5 miles from there (We had to ask how far from the pacman was the landing)". The raft was put along the shore, the cooler put in the raft and he was off. He did not tie the cooler in, he did not show us any techniques, he did not give us any instructions other than where to get off. My partner and I looked at each other, agreeing the instructions of "pacman" were very vague. We asked more specific questions to get an idea...how long, in time, from now, should we be meeting it? It is a small icon? Pacman is what?? Oh! A large painting on the side of the rock. Then we asked what do we do after seeing the pacman (we were told to stay left after the pacman)? Let me reiterate that if we had not asked those questions, and where/how to stay on the river (we were told to try to stay in the middle...glad we asked!) we might have gotten carried away a few times. When we finally came to the pacman, we stayed left. There was still a lot of river left. At some point we were really not sure if we should keep going around these little islands or if we were close. We were sure we were .5 miles...even further with the speed of the river. With both of us agreeing that the drop of directions were to stay left after the pacman, we made a choice to go towards this big opening on the left between an island and the shore. We had no other information to go off of. Wrong choice. We saw up ahead, and already too late to make a different choice, a whole lot of trees and bushes in the water crossing the path. We panicked. We speeded right into the trees, the bushes and was sure the raft was going to puncture, we were going to tip over and be carried through the water. We kept calm while we were being scratched, and slowly maneuvered ourselves and the raft through the trees only to be swept frantically down this narrow path and again hitting trees, trying to stay in the middle of this tiny winding path. We finally came out of the opening, shaking. The river clearly opened and we were now on the backside of some buildings being constructed. I just opted to get out on shore. I was shaking and furious at the directions. We pulled the raft on shore and clearly walked a good 7 minutes to the main desk, I was shaking the whole way, furious at the lack of clear directions to make sure I was safe. My partner let the front office know what our experience was and they said "you went down there??!!!" I wanted my money back. I called and wrote them with no response at all. I do not recommend this company. They took their comfort and placed it on us as if they were clear. As a corporate trainer and educator, I could not get away with that laziness. They are responsible for who they hire to explain clearly how to arrive and how everyone feels about their journey. read more

Red's fly shop is the go to place whenever your looking to fish the yakima canyon. These guys really know the river. I went to them last week to do my first float down the river and the recommendations and help i got from them was excellent. Plenty of supplies available in the shop as well if you need to restock before heading out. The shuttle service was great too. I will surely use Red's again when im out there. read more

My 4th visit. 3 Float trips in the past 4 years. 1 Wade the Yakima Class on 3/25/18 Great location, great people. Make sure to ask questions to ensure you meet your expectations for the event. Failed to do that on my first float trip. Past 3 visits - excellent. read more

Excellent service! I bought a reel online and they quickly contacted me to obtain what type of lines I wanted in it. Professional and fast. Bought it on Sunday and they mailed it out on Monday just in time for my next fishing trip. Don't hesitate to buy online from them. read more

Great shop, nice people and a beautiful backdrop. This was my first fly fishing adventure and I loved it. We floated the river (10am to 7pm) and had a great time. The guides knew the river extremely well and were patient teachers. We ended up catching a lot of fish but I would have had fun even if we didn't. read more

Fantastic bird hunt for our family and friends. Camrin, our guide for the day, and his dogs are awesome to go out hunting with as he is experienced and knowledgeable and his dogs are on point and obedient. Safety is his top priority with hunters and he was excellent with our teens! We've had him a couple of times and every time he has done an incredible job guiding, helping, instructing, and making it a memorable experience for all hunters. I highly recommend Red's, easy and seamless to book with.....great people through and through! read more